When they returned to the gathering place on the desert cart pulled by the Haotuo camel, Dudian and the others immediately saw a dense crowd of figures of various heights standing on the desolate sandy ground. They were all other students who had participated in the assessment together. Although the total number was much smaller than before, it was still quite considerable.
"Surprisingly, so many people passed!" Mekin said in surprise.
Dudian was also a bit surprised in his heart, but he quickly understood. Although the children recruited here came from different families, under Tob's collective training, whether they were delicate or weak, they had all been transformed into new people. The physical fitness gap among all of them was not significant. Although there was a difference of hundreds of ranks between the first place and the last place, in terms of performance alone, it was just a difference of a few minutes.
Moreover, in this desert survival assessment, endurance only played an auxiliary role. What really helped them survive was their wits and luck.
"I didn't expect there to be so many capable people," Mekin, Shamu, and Zach sighed. "We thought we were diligent and hardworking enough, but it turns out that others are just as dedicated."
The other children who were traveling with them were also quite surprised. During these ten days of desert survival challenges, everyone had experienced the hardships of survival. They had thought that it was a miracle for them to grit their teeth and survive tenaciously. However, they didn't expect that there were so many others who had also created such "miracles". For a moment, everyone realized that they were by no means the most special ones in this world. To gain attention, the current efforts were simply not enough, and they needed to work ten or even a hundred times harder!
As the sun set in the west, with the return of the last desert cart pulled by a Haotuo camel, all the people who had successfully passed the assessment were present.
At this time, a huge black carriage galloped over and stopped in front of the crowd. Two figures jumped down from the carriage, namely Tob and the female instructor Chris. After they got off the carriage, they turned around and lifted the carriage curtain. Only the clinking sound of chains could be heard. Then, a twisted figure was pushed out of the carriage and fell to the sandy ground with a thud.
Tob and Chris showed no mercy. They roughly grabbed the chains on this person's body and lifted him in front of all the children.
In an instant, the entire sandy ground fell silent.
When Dudian saw this figure, his pupils suddenly constricted. His fingers in his sleeve tightly gripped together, and cold sweat broke out on his back. The figure wrapped in chains was actually an alchemist! Moreover, he was from the same "life" alchemist faction as the hunched old man he had killed, and he had also conducted experiments on his own body!
Furthermore, the aftereffects of this person's experiment were even more terrifying!
On his burly body, a wriggling snake tail grew from his buttocks, coiling around his body. His face was covered with lumps of flesh. At the wrist of his left hand, a bone dagger shaped like a curved sword protruded, extremely sharp. However, the most terrifying thing was at his chest position. It actually split open from the center, and sharp fangs could be faintly seen through the crack!
This could no longer be called a "human"!
Everyone was stunned.
Among them, the children who had never seen an alchemist opened their eyes wide and looked at such a "monster" in disbelief.
Tob looked around at everyone and smiled calmly. "First of all, I want to congratulate you. You have passed this survival assessment and can continue to be trained by me for another six months. Secondly, there are some things you should know." As he spoke, he stepped on the back of the burly figure wrapped in chains all over his body, kicking him to the ground. "This is the alchemist that your parents often warned you about, an apostle of the devil!"
All the children were in an uproar. They had never expected that the devil they had heard about since childhood actually existed and was right in front of them. Immediately, various evil legends about "alchemists" emerged in their minds. Each one was chilling, and the twisted body in front of them also confirmed this point - this was the incarnation of the devil!
"This time, there were 'alchemists' lurking in the place where you took the assessment, resulting in the unexpected elimination of many people," Chris stepped forward at this time. A faint smile appeared on her wheat-colored face. "But fortunately, there were no casualties. And what's more, many people, after encountering the 'alchemists', not only were not intimidated but also fought back bravely and cooperated with the Knights of Light to subdue the alchemists."
She raised her hand and pointed. "This person was subdued by a student in cooperation with the Knights of Light last night. He has not yet received the judgment of the Light."
Hearing her words, all the children were in an uproar again, filled with amazement and excitement.
Although the Knights of Light were not a combat profession affiliated with the military department, they were the exclusive knights of the Holy See of Light, symbolizing noble virtues and pure wills. Even nobles took pride in being able to marry a Knight of Light!
"The Knights of Light actually came here."
"I didn't expect that among us, there were such powerful people who could assist the Knights of Light in capturing this devil."
"I'm so envious. If only I could meet the Knights of Light. I really want to see what they look like."
Mekin, Shamu, and Zach sighed.
When other children mentioned this, their faces were filled with envy. Being able to assist the Knights of Light in punishing the devil was something that made people excited and enthusiastic just to think about. What a great thing it was!
Chris smiled slightly and said, "In this incident, a total of thirty-eight people were attacked by alchemists. However, seventeen of them not only did not submit to the devil but also managed to hold out until the arrival of the Knights of Light. Especially this 'Rollian' last night. Not only did he survive in the hands of the alchemist, but he also secretly left a signal, which allowed the Knights of Light to successfully track down and capture the alchemist in one fell swoop."
"Here, I announce that all the examinees who assisted the Knights of Light in subduing the alchemists will be rewarded with a second-class military merit. This military merit will be recorded in your household registration. If you become guards in the future, you will be directly promoted to the rank of captain and will have the right to apply to become knights." The "knights" mentioned here referred to the knights in the military establishment.
Hearing her words, everyone couldn't help but feel envious, their eyes turning red.
Knights and guards were completely two different levels!
Although the knights in the military department were not comparable to the Knights of Light exclusive to the Holy See of Light, they were still favored by the nobles. Even a commoner knew that the status of a knight was almost the highest achievement a commoner could reach. Their status was only slightly lower than that of the nobles. Among them, the knight commander's status was even higher than that of some nobles. As for the knight master, needless to say, he was a top figure among the knights, and nobles would treat him with courtesy when they met.
"Besides those we already know, at the secret stronghold of an alchemist ten days ago, the Knights of Light found several footprints. According to their speculation, someone was captured by that alchemist but managed to escape. I wonder which one of you it is. Please stand up so that I can record it in the military merit as well," Chris suddenly smiled sweetly.
Hearing these words, everyone was stunned and looked at each other.
Dudian's heart tightened. He immediately saw Zach, Mekin, and Shamu looking at him. Only these three knew about his escape from that alchemist.
Looking at the envy and excitement in the eyes of the three of them, Dudian's heart sank. He knew that most likely, the footprints he left when he ran out had been traced by the subsequent Knights of Light. It was just that due to the relatively long time interval, and after being reminded by Zach, he had deliberately covered up the remaining footprints, so he hadn't been caught up with.
When he killed that alchemist, he hadn't thought about covering up his tracks at all because he had never expected the Knights of Light to appear. Later, covering up the footprints was just to deal with Zach. Thinking about it now, he was really lucky. If he hadn't covered them up in time, he might have already been caught up with by the Knights of Light. He had that alchemist's notebook tied in his trouser leg. If this item was discovered to be in his private possession, it was needless to say how serious a crime it would be.
...